WENDELL Comboy and L-Jay Gonzales formed the tenacious two-man combo as Far Eastern University scored an 81-65 victory over University of the East on Sunday in the UAAP basketball tournament at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Comboy had a career-best 24 points on 6-of-9 shooting from downtown, to go with three rebounds and two assists, while it was another all-around performance for Gonzales, who also scored a career-high with 14 points, while making eight boards, eight assists and three steals.
"Tradition naman sa FEU yun, na guard-heavy kami. We rely on our guards and this season is no different. Difference lang siguro, we have young guards," said coach Olsen Racela.
Gonzales' playmaking allowed FEU to wiggle away from UE after seeing its lead sliced down to five, 58-53 early in the payoff period as it staged a quick 10-0 run to grab a 68-53 lead with 8:23 remaining.
It didn't take long before the bigs made their contributions, with Cameroonian center Patrick Tchuente unloading nine points and six rebounds, and Barkley Ebona adding seven points, six boards, and six assists.
"At least naka-isa na kami, but sinasabi ko na sa mga players, play every play, play every possession," said Racela.
Senegalese Alex Diakhite poured 19 of his 21 points in the second half, while also grabbing 15 rebounds and rejecting four shots.
Those, however, wasn't enough to avoid the Red Warriors from falling to a 0-2 hole.
Rey Suerte had a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds.
The scores:
FEU 81 - Comboy 24, Gonzales 14, Tchuente 9, Ebona 7, Cani 7, Torres 6, Tuffin 5, Bienes 5, Stockton 2, Alforque 2, Celzo 0, Bayquin 0.
UE 65 - Diakhite 21, Suerte 17, Abanto 8, Manalang 8, Mendoza 4, Sawat 3, Pagsanjan 2, Apacible 2, Cruz 0, Tolentino 0, Camacho 0, Beltran 0, Antiporda 0.
Quarterscores: 17-10; 34-25; 58-51; 81-65.
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